Falcons clip short-handed Green Wave

Published 1:00 am, Tuesday, April 14, 2009

NEW MILFORD -- Drew Scharf and the rest of the Joel Barlow boys lacrosse team haven't forgotten the turbulent 2008 season.

And they don't want to.
"It's motivation," said Scharf, a senior captain. "It was a tough year. A building year and it's been fuel for us this year."
And Tuesday at New Milford High, the Falcons showed their engine is up and running.
Barlow outscored New Milford 3-0 in the third quarter, lifting the Falcons to a 12-8 South-West Conference victory over a short-handed Green Wave team.
New Milford was playing without All-State midfielder
Phil Dobson
, who has committed to play for Division I Loyola.
Dobson was suspended for Tuesday's game after being involved in a fight in the first quarter of the Green Wave's 10-5 win over Hall on Saturday.
Dobson was also ejected from that game.
"Cleary we are a different team without Phil," New Milford coach
Brandon Talbot
said. "But I didn't want that to be an excuse. We had our chances to win today. Barlow simply outplayed us."
Brandon Kuring
did his best to keep New Milford (2-1) in the contest, scoring four of his five goals in the first half. His efforts helped the Green Wave rally from a 4-2 first-quarter hole and tie the game at 6-6 heading into the break.
The senior attackman, however, went down midway through the third quarter with a stinger to his shoulder and that's when the Falcons took off.
Mike Ashton
scored twice in the third and
Brian Sternberg
added another goal as Barlow jumped out to a 9-6 lead and never looked back.
Ashton led the Falcons with four goals and two assists and Scharf, who will be playing for Division III Ohio Wesleyan next year, added three goals and two helpers.
Cody Hickok
, who is playing lacrosse at Division III
Dickinson College
, scored three goals for Barlow, which improved to 2-0.
"Before the game, I told the kids there were two keys to success: composure and execution," first-year Barlow coach
Jason Saunders
said. "And even though they really pressured us, we did exactly that."
The Falcons were incredibly efficient on offense, scoring 12 goals on just 20 shots.
Barlow also scored three goals on man-up situations.
"We wanted to pack it in on them and make them shoot from the outside," Talbot said. "To their credit they drained some tough shots."
And that was more than enough cushion for goaltender
Zack Upton
, who made 12 saves on the day.
And while Saunders tried to downplay the significance of Tuesday's win over New Milford, Scharf admitted this was a game he and his teammates wanted.
"They're a big rival for us," Scharf said. "We were taking them very seriously whether (Dobson) was out of the lineup or not."
The Green Wave eliminated the Falcons from the SWC playoffs the last two seasons, knocking them out in the quarterfinals last year and beating them in the SWC finals in double overtime in 2007.
The quick start is also a confidence booster for a Barlow team still searching for its identity.
The Falcons have had four different coaches over the last four seasons and Saunders knows he and his players are still adjusting to each other.
"It's a work in progress," Saunders said. "But the kids have been great. They just want to learn and get better."
But Scharf doesn't just want to get better. He and his teammates want Barlow to be the best, again.
"We want to get this program back to the top where it belongs," the senior attackman said. "We don't just want to win the SWCs; we want to win the states. That's how good we know we can be."
NOTES: Dobson will return from his suspension today for New Milford's home game against Stratford at 4 p.m. "¦ The Falcons' next game is against Newington at 4 p.m. in Redding.
Joel Barlow (2-0) 4 2 3 3 -- 12
New Milford (2-1) 2 4 0 2 -- 8
GOALS: Joel Barlow: Mike Ashton 4, Cody Hickok 3, Drew Scharf 3, Brian Sternberg, Pat Doolan. New Milford: Brandon Kuring 5,
Drew Haig
2,
Evan Cassels
.
ASSISTS: Joel Barlow: Mike Ashton 2, Pat Doolan 2,
Drew Scharf 2
, Brian Sternberg,
Wyatt Tompkins
. New Milford: Adam Haig 2,
Steve Monteiro
, Brandon Kuring, Evan Cassels.
SAVES: Zack Upton (JB) 12; Pedro Guadencio (NM) 4.